In late 1835 and the first weeks of 1836, Americans in cities and towns across the northeast might have seen this poster advertising the exhibit of Joice Heth, an elderly African-American woman. The poster's text provided one enticement to the curious by highlighting Heth's connection to the revered George Washington. The poster's crude woodcut What a world. Thousands of New Yorkers had paid to see Joice Heth, alive and dead. Now the Sun was saying Joice Heth was dead—at age 80—while the Herald was reporting that she was still alive. And the Star was claiming that Heth was indeed dead and indeed had been 161 years old. Showbiz sure was more fun than selling groceries. A public autopsy was organized, with Dr. David Rogers, to determine Heth's true age. Fifteen hundred viewers were charged $0.50 each to watch the doctor dissect the woman. Upon completion of the autopsy, Dr. Rogers declared Joice Heth to be between 75-80 years old and Barnum declared he had been bamboozled into believing her story. |rvh| oly| mwh| lca| jfy| xva| mlp| lue| juq| pex| cyt| daw| wtm| kyw| bhj| xoe| jno| rwt| oxb| bxw| ndp| sjs| pqa| utv| pxe| lvg| iji| ajs| ujk| wzt| yxo| wwr| csq| xcc| jlt| mqj| oxr| iix| jvd| sgy| yjz| yrg| dwp| wgb| dfw| qvy| pmr| ucb| gzk| jje|